My new variety of lily plant is classified botanically as a Lilium hybrid and commercially as an upright Asiatic hybrid, division I-A in horticultural classification of the Genus Lilium adopted by the Royal Horticultural Society of London.
My new lily plant originated as a seedling selected from a group of seedlings at Sandy, Oreg. The seedlings were planted during a breeding program carried on by me at Oregon Bulb Farms at Sandy, Oreg. It originated from a cross made in 1968 and first flowered in 1970 among the seedling beds of test crosses at Oregon Bulb Farms.
The seed parent of the cross was Lilium `Enchantment` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 862). The pollen parent was Lilium `Connecticut Lemon Glow` (not patented).
The breeding program had as its primary objectives the production of brilliantly-colored, upright-flowering lily cultivars which would perform well when forced into flower under glass throughout the year, in addition to meeting the requirements of vigor, disease resistance, and rapid natural propagation in field cultivation. Cultivars were sought which would be disease resistant, virus tolerant, and not susceptible to leaf scorch or bud abortion when forced under glass.
My new lily plant resulting from this cross is characterized by the desired rapid natural propagation and field condition in vigorous growth under forcing conditions and resistance to disease and virus.
The plant most closely resembles the older cultivar `Enchantment` but differs from it and is superior to it because of its broader leaves and its brilliant unspotted flower color. Its flowers resemble those of Lilium `Orange Glow` but have the advantage of being upright flowers rather than side facing.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Sandy, Oreg. Successive generations produced by bulb scale propagation and natural propagation from bulblets have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of the new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.